Search

This past weekend I was out in the Muskoka region of Ontario, looking for access to a lake on some Crown land (public land) that I had identified as a potential campsite. We were taking our Master Race up to a condo we have at Deerhurst Resort near Hunstville, and this lake is only about 25 km away, so it was a good opportunity to sneak away for a few hours. It looked like I could get pretty close using an existing logging road, according to a topographic map I had loaded on my phone.

Well, the logging road that was supposed to swing me north right up into the lake doesn’t exist anymore, and I turned back about 300 meters short of my goal. Very disappointing, considering I had to spend a couple of hours just walking up to my starting point, as I got dropped off in a car that couldn’t make it up the logging road. So, I decided to eat some lunch and take a video showing how to use my new backpacking stove.

It’s called a Solo Stove, and it is a stupid-simple, lightweight, robust woodburning stove suitable for small outdoor cooking chores. I also have an alcohol burning insert, made by the same company, and I’ll post a video of how that works later. I’m not into the whole “survivalist” or “prepper” thing, but if you are, this is an indispensable piece of kit for your home, car or bugout bag. The fuel for this stove is free, and you can literally pick it up off the ground. Something to keep in mind even if you’re trapped at home without power or gas for cooking due to a snowstorm, hurricane, earthquake or flood. With this stove and some twigs, you can sterilize an unlimited amount of water for drinking and cooking.

I paid something like sixty bucks for mine and it is worth every penny. It’s made out of 304 stainless steel, pressed into one piece, except for the ash pan and grate, which is NiChrome wire. This is one sturdy piece of kit. And long after your neighbor’s white gas, propane or butane stove has run out of fuel, you’ll still be burning. Once he’s been sufficiently weakened by dysentery from lack of clean drinking water, you can just stroll over and liberate his canned goods and women. Now you’ve got yourself the beginnings of an empire, friend.

Sorry in advance for the video quality. I couldn’t find my good camera before I left, so I had to one-hand everything with my Samsung Galaxy SIII, which has a surprisingly a clear picture, but as you will see, is not that easy to hold onto.